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Hello - newbie - just don't get it

Hibby65

Hibby65

Well-Known Member
Messages
60
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Hello all

Just stumbled on this site - which must have drastically changed because Im sure a year or two ago it was nothing like this, Looks like it will be a good support and learning curve

Won't bore you all with the details but basically (sorry if this it the wrong forum)

Diagnosed approx 6 years ago - type 2 (aged 38)
Now on byetta and metformin - been on byetta for approx 4 months now - lost about 1 1/2 stones felt like **** sometimes but feel slightly better in the long run

Go to my hospital check ups- usuall pep talks etc must do better and feel positive and boosted when I go there. BP OK

Control poor (if Im honest) - diet changed since been on byetta and over the years been yo yo dieter - to no effect Talked to dieticians - doctors - nurses etc

But I JUST DONT GET IT

No matter how much I try blood levels on avg. 8-15 - probably only had perfect levels for about 8 months in all that time and felt totally miserable trying to acheive and maintain this. But the main thing is even when I was the perfect model diabetic - I felt no better or big difference - so whats the point - of all the jabs - pills - diets - pin pricks if you dont feel a difference??????????????

Told this to the docs but they just say keep trying - try this new pill - tell me the technical stuff and the consequences, but I still dont see the light at the end of the tunnel if you know what I mean

Thinking of going to find a local support group anyone any experience of these groups (good or bad)

Ta thanks for letting me rant
 
Rantin id Ok if it makes you feel better
What do you eat?
the key could be in your diet.
 
Sorry just got it

RANTIN G is OK

Dooohhhh - feel like homer
 
Hi Hibby and welcome from a fellow Byetta user.

I know Byetta is pretty good but it can't do it all on its own. Your blood sugar levels are way too high, but they are simply a consequence of how much carbohydrate you eat. If you want to reduce your blood sugar level then you need to reduce the carbs in your diet. Have good read round the forum and I'm sure you will see where you can make changes that will not only help you lower your BS but will also make to feel much better and fitter.
 
Hi Hibby

I've only been on Byetta a few months, the first month was a hit and miss affair tryin to find the right things to eat, and i did feel ****** for a while.

What i found was that if i reduced my carb intake, i didn't even realise i was doin this at first as eating bread and potatoes made me feel full but an uncomfortable full so i cut them down now i dont have them at all.

since doing this i have felt loads better am achieving great weight loss and feel better in myself and not as down as i have been.

My bs are between 5 and 7 which is a miracle for me and yeah while i know i could get them lower am doing ok and things are settling so thats ok for now.

I think that joining a group will be good for you as you get face to face support from fellow suffers, but keep posting here as am sure some of the more experienced on here can offer you more advice

remember you only get 1 shot at this life their are no re-runs so you have to make the best of it.

Juliexx
 
Thanks all for the tip and advice

The carbs bits interesting - but to be honest if I could understand and stick to diets etc I probably wouldn't have been overweight for the last 10-15 years of my life

Diet has always been and always will be a huge problem for me - diet clubs and dieticians - books - groups - pills - been there done it etc but always fall off the wagon (usually after 3 months or so)

Food to me is a comfort and a pleasure - it cheers me up even if the consequnces are technically bad for me.

I don't want to kill myself in the long run - but then again I don't want to lead a life of misery and constant battles with diets and cravings.

Spoke to Docs - dieticians etc - they give good technical advice but cant be with you 24 hrs a day 7 days a week

Anyone else feel the same?
 
I think I've got a long long long road ahead of me

Just finished reading a few bits of the aussie guys link and I was ready to chuck it

Do you really think I havent tried the good diabetic route and done all that stuff?

OK Im weak willed and a sad individual - but come on

Carb counting - avoiding certain types of soup etc etc

It seems that unless I become a professional dietician 24 hrs a day then as in the words of Father Ted " Im f*#@ked"

Education education will have to be my watch word and a lot more personal ownership of my condition

Im so hacked off

Sorry to bore you lot with this

Time for a beer
 
Hi hibby, sorry
I have a rather troublesome left hand( result of a stroke) and don't always proofread carefully. I meant
Ranting is good if it makes you feel better. I did mean that you might need to look at your diet.
 
hi,

I'm newly diagnosed so i'm yet to face too many pitfalls, I have had a bit of a rant on here already though hehe.

I have never been able to stick to a diet, but i'm finding life easier this time, the thought of my feet falling off, or losing my eyesight, or any of the complications from diabetes is seeming to be enough to stop me being too bad. I used to live on carbs before I found out, now I eat around 80g or less a day. Food was my friend, but now I realise it was stabbing me in the back everytime I took comfort from it! I'm not going to have food help my diabetes to kill me! I can be quite stubborn I guess lol

Have a rant, take whatever advice helps, but never give up trying to control the beast (diabetes) cos then, if you do get complications you can be happy that you did your best, rather than thinking, oh god why didn't i do this, or why didn't i do that. You don't wanna be thinking that.

All the best

Becca
 
The best bit of advice I ever got from a Doctor was "Don't make an enemy of your future."

And that is very true, and what we are all struggling to do. You are a diabetic and you are in control of how that goes; you don't have to bother with any of the diet, pill taking, maintenance and control stuff, but if you don't things will get bad for you very quickly, but you've got to be aware that that is down to you. It's your choice.

The point about not feeling any different is that we are all trying to offset future problems, having controlled blood sugars will just make you feel normal, it won't make you feel like superman, but normal is good.

I would say; drop the carbohydrate, take more exercise, take some control, and things will swing your way.
 
Hibby

It sounds like you're trying to achieve all in a very shprt space of time, and this for you has a individual may be where your precieved downfall lays...

A lot of yo-yo dieting is really caused by the person changing there eating habbit over night, today high carbs crisps, cakes and chips etc, tomorrow I will change to fresh salads, apples and no **** food... This is really a big lifestyle change indeed and not every individual can maintain the motivation to keep to it...

I susppect that you would find it far easier to slowly change from one eating habit to another, set yourself smal goals to achieve... So say you like 6 potatoes on your dinner plate, well tonite reduce it to 5 or even 4, bung a bit extra veg and meat on your plate, to it again tomorrow nite, after perhaps a week, reduce it again to slighly less.. Don't try to change every meal time at one go, but tackle a meal at a time, if you enjoy a snack, such as biscutes then try having 2 instead of three, and/or replace with something that isn't a carb based snacked, such as having 2 biscutes and a piece of cheese...

It's fair to say this will take time and won't produce brillient BG's or weight loss in the short term, but in the long term you will be able to change your eating habit to a one that enables you to achieve what you need to achieve and give you all the benefits that come with it...
 
Hi Hibby65
How about your meter becoming your motivator? If you have strips, measure BG every evening( and at other times). the numbers will tell you how you've done during that day.
 
Hello all

Just like to say a really BIG thanks to everyone who has read my rant and to ALL of you thanks for putting up with me and offering support and advice

It has been a huge suport and help and made me think a LOT about what the future lies ahead of me

I think one or two of you perhaps haven't read my post thoroughly - these aren't sudden changes all in one go this has been going on for about SEVEN years ever since I was diagnosed. (we really need an automatic spell check here)

The monitor has not been a motivator - it was for a while but in fact it has become my enemy and if Im honest I hardly ever test. My results are always the same no matter how good - so it became depressing and seemed pointless. That backed up by the fact that although at the start I kept very good records - the doctors nurses etc just glanced at them but never really bothered about them

I hate all the jabs and pin pricks 3-4 times a day so I chicken out and take the easy road (story of my life)

These last two days have been a great help to me and your support has motivated me to try and improve and take better control

So thanks everyone for your time comments concerns and advice
 
Hey :)

I'm really glad you feel more motivated, keep that feeling going, it will pay off :) Rant here when you feel down, and let us know when your feeling good too!

You can take control of your diabetes, always remember that :)

Becca
 
Hi Ragnar,

Byetta is one of the newest treatments for type 2 diabetes. It is not a type of insulin but is injected twice a day and, unlike most other type 2 meds, it works in five different ways:
- it helps your pancreas produce the correct amount of insulin to deal with the carbs in your food
- it stops the liver from over-producing glucose
- it slows down the rate of digestion which means that glucose is released into the blood much slower
- it reduces appetite and promotes weight loss
- it reduces liver fat content, which helps increase HDL and reduces triglycerides.

It has been available in the USA for about 3 years and UK for 20 months. Not sure how widely available it is outside the US and UK though. If you need to get it on private prescription it is quite expensive at around £100 for a month's supply.
 
Dennis said:
- it reduces appetite and promotes weight loss
Click to expand...

Aha. Thats the LAST thing I need. I only eat four or five times per week any way. And NEVER more than once per day.

I never did eat much, but since I started on the Metaformin the THOUGHT of food makes me feel ill.
 
G'day Hibby

You wrote "Just finished reading a few bits of the aussie guys link and I was ready to chuck it. Do you really think I havent tried the good diabetic route and done all that stuff?"

I rarely get the time to drop in here, but I was skimming through today and your thread caught my eye. Mate, do you want me to sugarcoat this, or do you want the truth? If you don't want to hear it like it is, stop here and click on the next message. I'm serious. I do not wish to upset you.

First, just one point on your comment up there. If you read much of that link you would have noticed that very little that I suggested was anything like the "good diabetic route" you have tried in the past. I know that because I am well aware of what UK dieticians consider to be the "good diabetic route". And it's not the route I follow.

Just as one example, read this and tell me whether it is what you were taught and tried:
What to Eat Until You Get Your Meter. You will notice something missing. Grains and starches.

If you were a stranger reading the following, would you think this writer was seeking answers or making excuses?
"No matter how much I try blood levels on avg. 8-15" and
"But the main thing is even when I was the perfect model diabetic - I felt no better or big difference - so whats the point - of all the jabs - pills - diets - pin pricks if you dont feel a difference??????????????" and
"Food to me is a comfort and a pleasure - it cheers me up even if the consequnces are technically bad for me. I don't want to kill myself in the long run - but then again I don't want to lead a life of misery and constant battles with diets and cravings."

Let me be blunt. You may have been a model diabetic according to your doctor, but not according to your meter. Model diabetics do not see 15s, in fact my model diabetics rarely see 8s.

If testing is a problem for you, read this: Painless Pricks. Then use your meter to discover what your meals are doing to you and how to change those meals to get better numbers, with this: Test, Review, Adjust

I apologise if this post has upset you, but that life of misery you mentioned is not what you will lead in attempting to take control of this condition, it's what you will lead if you don't.
--
I have no medical qualifications beyond my own experience.
Choose your advisers carefully, because experience can be an expensive teacher.
 
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